Saint Mary's Magazine Spring 2004 - Saint Mary's University of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Editor’s FROM Page THE EDITOR When others were basting turkeys or glued to televised football games over holiday break, I began working on this magazine. I started by pouring over words written by two SMU alums – a soldier stationed in Iraq and a Holocaust survivor. Though their experiences are worlds and decades apart, they share an ironic commonality in the horrors they have seen. Their experiences left me humbled. Their reflections haunted me, but their stories have inspired me. Deb Nahrgang Saint Mary’s Magazine editor Because of them, as my family gathered through the holidays, I wanted to hug my daughter a little tighter, and I felt compelled to continue praying silently after the standard Lord’s Prayer at our dinner table. I accepted the position of director of communication on the Winona campus at Saint Mary’s in October. (Bob Conover, former magazine editor, has been named vice president for communication and marketing and is focusing on raising the university’s overall public visibility.) One of my first major realizations was that the Saint Mary’s community is filled with countless heroes. Some are obvious, the ones who make headlines. Others blend into their surroundings, quietly working behind the scenes. Some have dedicated their lives; others have given a spare hour or two. I was asked last fall to calculate the number of volunteer hours on this campus and soon discovered the impossibility of this task. Hundreds of students, alumni, faculty and staff are striving to make the world a better place. And they don’t count hours. Whether they’re protecting our country, helping feed our area’s needy families, holding blood drives and clothing drives, tutoring area children, or building houses for Habitat for Humanity, they’re all heroes. I believe they’re all proof that at Saint Mary’s we’re teaching minds and touching hearts. In this magazine, we present many heroes. ■ The word “athlete” doesn’t begin to describe Matt Guzik ’81 and Joe Guenther ’98. Both men participated in Ironman Hawaii, the world’s most grueling triathlon, on Oct. 18. In addition, Guzik competes to raise money for charity. His efforts have raised nearly $500,000 for Montana charities. One of his causes is the Greater Ravalli Foundation, which provides financial assistance for children and the community. During Ironman Hawaii, he set his sights on $1,000 per Ironman mile. ■ Saint Mary’s University freshman hockey goalie Justin Simmons ’06 has been deaf since the age of 18 months, when spinal meningitis cost him his hearing. But the obstacle hasn’t kept him from making a name for himself at the collegiate — and world — level. ■ Sgt. Ryan Patrick Hinton ’00, chaplain assistant for the 101st Airborne Division, has kept detailed journals of his experiences in Iraq, which he openly shares with us in this edition. His duties take him to mass gravesites — one of the hardest things he has had to face as a soldier. He writes: “I hope when people read my entries they get a truer sense of what happened here; the news is tainted as am I, but blended together maybe, just maybe, they will see what is happening over here.” ■ George Levy Mueller ’53 recounts his memories of the Holocaust in the book, “Lucie’s Hope,” which begins with a heartbreaking memory of his mother putting her two children, George, then 8, and Ursula, then 3, on a train out of Germany during World War II. They would never see her again as she died in a concentration camp shortly before its liberation. By the ages of 8 and 15, George and Ursula were in the midst of the worst horrors of the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Two survivors of the war, they still faced a lifetime of psychological challenges. Mueller’s son calls him an American success story. His daughters call him a hero.≠ 2 SAINT MARY’S MAGAZINE SPRING 2004
Campus LETTERS Notes CAMPUS RESOURCES WEBSITE www.smumn.edu ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (507) 457-1499 Fax: (507) 457-6697 Toll-free: (800) 635-5987, Ext. 1499 alumni@smumn.edu ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT (507) 457-1579 dnadeau@smumn.edu www.sports.smumn.edu UNIVERSITY RELATIONS (507) 457-6647 Fax: (507) 457-6697 chenthor@smumn.edu PERFORMANCE CENTER BOX OFFICE (507) 457-1715 tickets@smumn.edu www.pagetheatre.org COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING (507) 457-1497 spopp@smumn.edu ADMISSION / WINONA Toll-free: (800) 635-5987, Ext. 1700 admission@smumn.edu ADMISSION / TWIN CITIES Toll-free: (866) 437-2788, Ext. 207 sclever@smumn.edu Great job on Fall magazine Hey, great job on this most recent Saint Mary’s Magazine! I especially liked the articles on San Miguel School and on Shane Whaley ... good photos, good layout, good everything! I read it, honestly, from cover to cover. It only saddens me that I find my own class way, way down the list from the most recent classes — and that I sometimes need my glasses to get through all that fine print! – Brother Robert Smith, FSC, ’76 Mother grateful for compassion shown at SMU I am sending you this note because I would be remiss if I didn’t. I believe it is so important for you to know about the experience that my family has encountered over the last several weeks and months. It involves members of the SMU community and I am so proud to be able to say … “I am a part of that community.” Last June my husband and I were asked to be a part of the “Parent Panel” during the summer orientation of new students and their parents. Since we have two students on campus, Rob, a senior, and Aubrey, a sophomore, we decided that we had enough experience and could give some practical advice to these families. As I was listening to various key people speak during the orientation sessions, I remember hearing about how interested and “vested” the entire faculty was in our children. I didn’t doubt it then … and I never could now. In late August my mom was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. The news was devastating to us and the most difficult part was going to be telling our “college-bound” kids … who had incidentally just moved back to campus days before. They, of course, took the news very hard and were trying to balance between the rigors of a new semester and the desire to spend time with their grandma. I sent two e-mails to people who I thought were significant to my children, dean Julie Thornton and coach Nick Whaley. I simply asked for them to keep an “eye” on Rob and Aubrey … it would be out-of-character for them to miss classes or other campus related activities, and I would be concerned if they started to do just that. Within hours of my sending those two e-mails, my children were at their grandmother’s hospital bedside. They were told that “family” was important, that they should be with them whenever they could. They were told that it wasn’t just about missing classes and deadlines, it was about being where they needed to be. Because of the reassurance that Julie and Nick gave to my kids, they felt very comfortable in their decisions to spend time with their grandma in the last few weeks of her life. My mom took the hand of Christ on Thursday, Oct. 16, and she was enveloped in love by her family including her grandchildren … it could not have been more perfect. They had the opportunity to spend quality time and speak to her from their hearts. – Teresa Hollnagel EDITOR’S NOTE: See Hollnagel’s complete letter online at www.smumn.edu/magazine. WWW.SMUMN.EDU/MAGAZINE 3
Page 2 and 3: www.smumn.edu VICE PRESIDENT FOR CO
Page 6 and 7: Editor’s LETTERS Page ‘Looking
Page 8 and 9: FROM NEWS THE AND EDITOR VIEWS Grad
Page 10 and 11: FROM NEWS THE AND EDITOR VIEWS SMU
Page 12 and 13: ASOLDIER OF SOULS Hinton journaled
Page 14 and 15: often comes to us and we are ready
Page 16 and 17: as the train pulled away and she gr
Page 18 and 19: Joe Guenther ’98 was one of two S
Page 20 and 21: SMU ON THE WWW It is difficult for
Page 22 and 23: SPORTS NEWS Cardinal pride shines a
Page 24 and 25: SPORTS NEWS Saint Mary’s Universi
Page 26 and 27: ALUMNI NEWS Saint Mary’s Alumni A
Page 28 and 29: ALUMNI: GETTING TOGETHER Lou Guillo
Page 30 and 31: PLAN TO COME BACK JUNE 18-20 FOR Th
Page 32 and 33: ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Who’s where, d
Page 34 and 35: ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Bar association
Page 36 and 37: FROM ALUMNI THE CLASS EDITOR NOTES
Page 38 and 39: ALUMNI CLASS NOTES BIRTHS Tim and M
Page 40 and 41: ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Michael ’97 an
Page 42 and 43: So, what’s new with you? Alumni
Page 44: YOU’RE WELCOME BACK FOR HOMECOMIN

Saint Mary's Magazine Spring 2004 - Saint Mary's University of ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?